


Lips Like Sugar

by SleepingAshes



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-11 00:54:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12311445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepingAshes/pseuds/SleepingAshes
Summary: Richie Tozier has kissed all of the losers club members at least once.





	Lips Like Sugar

**Author's Note:**

> I meant to post this like three days ago but I dragged my feet a lot on the Eddie and Mike sections whoops.... Some small implied/background Stenbrough is scattered throughout the fic as well. EDIT: Also I think I forgot to mention this takes place when they're all around 16!

**Stan**

Richie sat on Stan’s couch as he waited for his friend to emerge from the kitchen with snacks. The two weren’t doing anything particularly interesting or fun, but surprisingly Richie didn’t mind. It was kind of nice to relax with Stan-- especially lately. Stan was the only one who knew Richie wasn’t straight so maybe Richie felt he could be a little more himself around Stan now.

“Dude how long does it take to see what food you have?” Richie called out.

“There really isn’t anything you’d be interested in.” Stan insisted, poking his head out from the kitchen. “Unless you want latkes, you’ll have to starve.”

“You’ve made latkes for us before right? That pancake shit?”

“They’re made out of potatoes but yes.”

“I’ll take what I can get.” Richie sighed dramatically but sat up eagerly at the idea of food anyways.

Stan only took a few more moments before he finally came out of the kitchen, a plate in hand for Richie. Richie took the plate and immediately began chowing down.

“I have no idea about your religious shit, but hey I’m thankful for the food it gets you to make.” Richie admitted. “Fuck these are pretty good.”

“Glad you like it.” Stan commented dryly as he took a place on the couch.

He picked up the remote and began flipping through the TV stations, trying to find something vaguely interesting.

“Compliments to the chef. What, did your mom make these? I know how I can thank her if ya get what I mean,” Richie wiggled his eyebrow suggestively but Stan didn’t budge.

“You’d think being gay would mean you wouldn’t make comments about my mom anymore, but then again what did I expect from you.” Stan muttered.

Richie only faltered for a second before he recovered.

“Gotta keep up appearances. I have a reputation to uphold, my dear Stan.” Richie paused for a moment before quietly adding, “I don’t know if I’m gay or bi or what. I just know I like guys.”

“And you prefer them.” Stan said.

Richie shrugged.

“Guess so. No point in denying it around you. We’ve had this talk before.”

“...Are you going to tell the others?” Stan asked, settling on a  _ Tom & Jerry  _ episode since neither of them were really paying close attention to the television anyways.

Richie seemed a bit thrown off by the question. He set down his food and thought for a moment before looking at Stan.

“I have no idea.” He admitted. “Like, I want to. Maybe? But it isn’t easy.”

Stan knew none of this was easy for Richie. It had taken a lot of convincing to get Richie to talk to him after it had initially been brought up. He could tell Richie still regretted confessing, but he hoped one day that his friend could be comfortable in his own skin. Stan knew self discovery was a bit of a bitch, but he felt confident Richie could power through.

“They’d all accept you, you know.” Stan assured him.

“I want to believe that.”

“It’s the truth.” He insisted. “There’s no point in denying it. You’re our friend, we’ve been through worse things than one of us coming out of the closet.”

There was a slight bitter edge to Stan’s tone that Richie chose not to address. Stan’s words did get Richie thinking though. He was right of course, they’d been through so many worse things at this point that Richie coming out couldn’t be worse than what they went through with It. But there was a part of him that was honest to god scared of what could happen.

If Bill or Eddie started looking at him any differently, he wasn’t sure he could handle it. Not after everything they’d been through… He considered himself a little lucky with Stan. Stan didn’t give a shit either way. Richie was Richie, no matter who he was throwing himself at.

“What if they don’t take me seriously?” Richie wondered aloud.

“What do you mean?”

“I talk about fucking all your moms so damn much what if they think I’m joking. Besides, I’ve never kissed a guy so how would I know I like them?”

Stan sighed.

“You don’t have to kiss someone to know whether or not you like them. You know I don’t care about any of that stuff and I didn’t have to kiss anyone to figure that out.”

“Well that’s different… I think? I don’t know. Shit’s confusing. I don’t like it. I need a goddamn cigarette.”

“Not in my house.”

“You’re no fucking fun, Stan. Shut up and like, kiss a dog or something. See if you like  _ that _ .”

“That’s so unsanitary and disgusting.”

“You think everything is unsanitary and disgusting. I bet you think kissing me would be too since I smoke.”

“Kissing you would be worse than a dog since you have such a trashmouth.”

Richie gasped, offended.

“I’m hurt, Stan! Stan the man taking shots at _ me _ !? I’ll have you know I’ve been told I’m extremely kissable. Cigarette germs and all.”

“By who, your imaginary friend?”

“Lisa Harmann from math, dickhead. She said I was hot.” Richie said smugly. “And she said she’d totally kiss me.”

“Mmhm.” Stan seemed unconvinced. “I’m sure she did. That’s why you didn’t take her up on the offer.”

Richie fell quiet for a moment. Stan could see a thousand thoughts going through Richie’s mind before he finally seemed to settle on something to say. While Stan had been expecting something stupid and over exaggerated, he got something heartfelt and honest instead.

“I kind of don’t want my first kiss to be with someone I don’t know. I know it’s stupid as shit, but I really can’t do it unless I trust the person.”

“That’s pretty normal, I think.”

“Wow adding ‘I think’ to the end made that real convincing.”

“You know what I mean, ass. Tons of people feel that way. You just have to find someone you trust.”

“The thing is, I only trust you and the others.” Richie said, sighing. “And since I’m not out to anyone and it’d totally ruin my reputation if the others knew I was a kissing virgin, I’m shit out of luck. Looks like I’m taking that lie to the grave…”

“For fuck’s sake you are so dramatic sometimes.” Stan said, rolling his eyes. “Is it that big of a deal to you?”

“I mean...Bill’s already got more experience in that department than I do. Fucking Bill.”

“...Jesus, fine. Do you want to kiss me then? Just to get this out of the way?”

Richie stared at Stan for a long, long time. Stan never felt any discomfort or pressure from Richie’s gaze but he supposed in retrospect, he could have worded that a little better. In the end though, he didn’t care. Richie could say yes or no and it wouldn’t make a difference in for him.

“Holy shit, you’re really offering.” Richie whispered, shocked still.

“Yeah. I am.”

“Can we?”

“Sure. I don’t care.”

Finally, Richie came back to himself a bit and broke out into a smirk that Stan could only describe as perverted. He leaned in closer to Stan.

“Dude I’m gonna give you the biggest boner.”

“I’m actually one hundred percent certain that’s not how any of this works, but sure.”

Stan sighed and sat up straighter so that this could be a bit more comfortable for the both of them. He didn’t mind doing this, but he didn’t exactly want Richie leaning in so close that he was practically under him. Richie followed Stan’s lead and waited for a cue on what to do next. Stan, unfortunately, didn’t know what Richie expected him to do so he just gave him an impatient look after a while.

“Are you doing it or not, Richie?”

“I am, I am.” Richie rushed out, “Shit man, you’re ruining the mood.”

“What mood.” Stan muttered.

After another brief moment of mental preparation, Richie went for it. He was surprisingly gentle, but Stan figured it was just the anxiety Richie had to be feeling from the situation. The first kiss was brief, and chaste, but then Richie tried again and it was more of what Stan expected. A bit uncoordinated but this one had more passion to it. It was more eager.

Stan really just followed Richie’s lead, but he figured he must be doing something right because Richie wasn’t pulling away. In fact, Richie deepened the kiss and did something with his tongue that Stan definitely wasn’t expecting. Stan got the brief taste of cigarettes and latkes in his mouth before Richie pulled away, making a confused noise.

Now that the experience was over, Stan could confidently say he didn’t feel any different. Kissing was...fine, he supposed, but not as big of a deal as everyone made it out to be. It was an average experience all in all. He looked up to Richie, not expecting to see him so out of sorts.

“So...I liked that.” Richie said after a moment. “A lot?”

“Glad you did. There, now you’re on par with Bill. Happy?”

“Very happy.” Richie smirked. “Stan, my darling,”

“Nope, not your darling.”

“We gotta do that again sometime.”

“Give me a few months to work up the energy needed.”

“ _ Stan _ !”

 

**Bill**

The losers were at Bill’s place for the weekend, celebrating Bev’s temporary return to Derry. It was only for a few weeks out of the summer, but it was something that excited them all anyways. Richie was the only one who’d been in regular contact with Bev. He’d been the one informing them that she was coming back for a little while and that she’d need a place to stay. She would have stayed with Richie, but Richie insisted that wasn’t going to work out and suggested literally anyone but him and Eddie.

No way Eddie’s mom would let a girl stay in her home…

It ended up that she would stay with Ben; his parents remembered how highly he’d spoken of her back when she still lived in Derry so they didn’t have a problem with it. So long as Bev was respectful of the fact that the boys still had about a week of school left, Ben’s parents didn’t mind it. But of course even with a week of school left that didn’t mean the losers weren’t going to celebrate immediately.

“Bev it’s r-really good to have you b-back,” Bill said, greeting the redhead at the door.

She smiled and gave him a quick hug before turning to the rest of the group.

“It’s really good to be back. You have no idea how much I’ve missed you all.”

“We’ve missed you too.” Ben said, giving her a gentle smile.

In no time at all, the group was acting as though Bev never left. Her being back wasn’t strange or throwing them off whatsoever-- it felt perfectly natural. Sure, they talked about the things she’d missed and she informed them about changes in her life, but now that she was there it felt as though she hadn’t been gone for so long. It was nice and reassured the losers their friendship really was stronger than whatever the world threw at them.

At some point during the night, one of them had the great idea to have a dance off. Richie swore he was gonna win, hands down, but the rest were surprisingly getting just as competitive. They got a few tapes out and began the competition. It wasn’t exactly concrete who the judges were but that didn’t matter. What mattered to all of them was that they were able to have fun this summer.

“I’m pretty fucking sure I won.” Richie said, breathing heavily after his turn. “Like we don’t even need to keep going, I was the best.”

“We’re only three people in.” Bev said, raising an eyebrow. “Besides, I’m sure I could wipe the floor with you.”

“Oh really? Go on and try.”

Bev put on a rock song and began dancing. Most of the boys were enamored with her performance for teenage boy reasons, but she was definitely better than Richie at the actual dancing. Richie looked like a dying fish, despite how cool he thought he was.

“She definitely beat you Richie.” Mike said confidently.

“Oh fuck that,” Richie huffed and stood, pulling Bill with him. “Redo! This time Big Bill’s gonna be my backup dancer! No way Bev can beat both of us!”

“Isn’t that against the rules?” Eddie asked.

“Let them try, they’ll never beat me.” Bev said, smirking.

She was right and the other losers knew it. Richie and Bill did not make a good dancing duo, but they were having fun with it so no one told them how ridiculous they looked. The song was nearly over when the pair happened to have a similar idea for a move but ended up colliding with each other. Richie stumbled backwards, grabbing onto Bill in an attempt to save himself but Bill just began falling too.

Richie let out a very not manly yelp and Bill cursed loudly as they tumbled to the floor. The way they fell was like something out of a very cliched romance movie-- Bill on top of Richie, their mouths pressed together, and neither moving out of pure shock from the situation. The rest of the losers had their eyes glued to the scene, none of them quite sure if they should make a joke or just let the moment pass.

Bill acted first, scrambling off of Richie. His cheeks were a deep red color and he sat there dumbly next to Richie for a second before standing up. He offered a hand to his friend and waited patiently as Richie came back to the moment. Richie fake coughed and took Bill’s hand, letting himself be hoisted up.

“...So I’m pretty sure we won the dance off. I mean, we totally added a love story to it that rivals Romeo and Juliet.” Richie finally said.

The tension in the room was gone. The rest of the kids let out a small laugh even if the joke wasn’t particularly funny.

“Damn, Bill, I think we really had something there.” Richie said, eyeing Bill suggestively.

Bill laughed a little.

“R-right. You can f-feel the chemistry in the air.” Bill joked.

“Romance for the ages!”

 

**Beverly**

There was an end of the year dance happening at school that Richie was surprisingly excited for. Mostly so he could go there and make fun of everyone else but the rest of the crew was going so he figured it would be at least a little fun. The losers got together after school and were met by Bev at the end of the day. She was still there for a few weeks and they all planned to make the most of it.

Richie thought that since the rest of the guys were going to the dance already, he may as well formally invite Bev. He spotted her first and went ahead of the group. He greeted her and offered her a cigarette, which she gladly took.

“So there’s some end of the year bullshit dance happening. Wanted to know if you were interested in crashing it?” Richie asked, lighting both of their cigarettes.

Beverly looked at him curiously.

“Sure, i’ll crash your school’s party. Did...Bill or Ben tell you to ask me?” She asked curiously.

“Uh...no? I’m asking? Because I wanted to?” Richie said, confused.

“Oh! Well, then. Does this mean you’re my date for the dance?”

Richie’s brain stopped working for a whole five seconds. Date. Bev was going to be his  _ date _ to the dance.  _ His _ date. He shifted awkwardly where he stood, noticing how the others had caught up and Bev was waiting for him to reply. She looked at him expectantly.

“Well, duh, Bev, that’s the idea.” He said, hoping it sounded natural enough.

“What a gentleman.” Beverly said, rolling her eyes. “I’m looking forward to this. I can’t wait to see what a trainwreck this dance is going to be.”

“Y-you’re going t-to the dance?” Bill asked.

“Sure am. Richie’s taking me. Isn’t that right?” Bev wrapped her arm around Richie’s shoulders and smiled.

“Yep.” Richie liked to pretend his voice didn’t come out way higher than normal.

He did notice the look Bill gave him and Bev, but couldn’t exactly place the emotion. It wasn’t angry but it wasn’t exactly jealous either. Ben looked a bit defeated but he recovered far quicker than Bill did. Eddie and Stan gave them a more questioning look but no one said anything in opposition. Mike was the only one who didn’t seem phased at all.

“Well now that Richie has a date I’m expecting things from the rest of you.” Mike said, giving his friends a serious look. “Especially you, Eddie.”

“Why me?!” Eddie questioned.

“You know why.”

“No, I don’t!”

The banter carried on the way to the quarry, where they talked more about the dance. Now that they were all officially going, they decided they should all at least try to look nice. It would be a bit hard for Richie to dress up but he decided he’d steal some of his old man’s cash and try to buy at least some pants that weren’t ripped and maybe a nice jacket if he had enough left. The more he thought about it, the more he was actually kind of excited to go to the dance with Bev.

In the end, Richie managed to afford a nice pair of jeans and that was about it. He was dressed nice enough for the dance but Bev definitely was the better dressed one out of the pair. She looked stunning, honestly. Richie didn’t miss the way all their friends did a doubletake when they saw Bev and he really didn’t blame them.

Richie noticed Eddie was by himself so him and Bev stuck by him. Mike and Ben had actual dates but Richie had a thousand questions for Stan and Bill who had decided to just go as each other’s dates. After some time of casual chatting, Bev went off to get the trio drinks. Richie turned to Eddie and nudged him gently.

“So you couldn’t get a girl to come with you?” Richie teased.

“Oh fuck you. For the record, I didn’t want to come with anyone.” Eddie claimed.

“Mmmhm, sure,”

“I’m serious. I could have asked someone, I just didn’t want to.”

Richie nodded.

“Sure, sure. So what, was your plan to ask Bill or Stan but they’d already declared their undying love for each other by the time you got the balls to ask?” Richie asked, 

Eddie sighed, seemingly trying to keep his cool. Richie was pretty sure Eddie was going to punch him before the night was over, but that was fine. He expected as much tonight.

“No, I wasn’t going to ask Stan or Bill.” Eddie said.

Before Richie could open his mouth again, Bev returned with drinks. She looked pretty surprised by something but handed everyone their drinks and sat down next to the boys. She watched carefully as Eddie drank his punch.

“Oh by the way, someone spiked the punch.” She mentioned, taking a sip of her own drink.

Eddie nearly choked on his punch as he swallowed it.

“Excuse me?!” He nearly screamed.

“Yeah one of the upperclassmen did it. I overheard their master plan.” Bev said nonchalantly.

“I can’t drink this-- my mom will kill me.”

“Your mom isn’t here, Eds,” Richie said. “Loosen up a bit. Have some fun!”

“Don’t call me Eds. And, and she’ll smell the alcohol! You’re trying to get me in trouble aren’t you!”

“For the record you can’t smell jack shit from this punch. I’d know. Besides, they probably didn’t even put enough alcohol in it to do anything.”

As if he were proving a point, Richie chugged his whole cup. Eddie looked at him doubtfully but took another small sip. He swore he’d only have one cup, but Richie considered that a victory in itself. At least Eddie wasn’t having a panic attack over partaking in underaged drinking.

The night continued and slowly but surely Richie learned he was very, very wrong about his earlier statement. There was definitely enough alcohol to get more than a little tipsy in that punch. In retrospect, Richie should have taken a lesson from Eddie and only had one cup as a precautionary measure, but nope. He’d drank a lot and now he was feeling  _ funny _ . It was the only way to describe it.

Him and Bev ended up ditching Eddie in favor of a smoke break, but they stayed outside way longer than what was needed to smoke a cigarette. Bev was finding Richie’s inebriated state quite amusing. She obviously hadn’t drank as much as he did, but she was still feeling a bit buzzed.

“Eddie’s probably waiting for us.” Bev mentioned after a while.

Richie nodded slowly.

“Eddie spaghetti’s gonna miss us. We should go get him, right?”

“We could.” Bev said, turning to Richie. “Or...we could stay here? I guess?”

“You guess.” Richie raised an eyebrow.

Bev smirked and nodded. She leaned in a little closer to Richie, eyeing him in a way Richie couldn’t really describe. He just knew he’d never been looked at in this way before, but he liked it. There was a brief moment of hesitation before Bev went for it and kissed him.

Richie tensed up briefly but regained his composure quickly enough and kissed back. He could tell right off the bat Bev was more experienced in this field so he let her take the lead. She seemed pleased with this and decided to deepen the kiss slightly. She wrapped her arms around his neck so he felt it was only appropriate to wrap his around her waist.

It didn’t take long for the kissing to become something intense and messy. Richie had no idea what he was doing but Bev didn’t seem bothered by his performance thus far. One thing bothered him though. He didn’t feel as excited as he thought he would. He’d never been particularly attracted to Bev but that had nothing to do with her as a person. He loved her but couldn’t see himself crushing on her like Ben or Bill did.

His thoughts wandered back to when he’d kissed Stan. His first kiss was with him and he’d liked it then. Why couldn’t he like it now? Why is it the longer time passed the more wrong this felt? Everything felt so performative on his end and he hated that. He wanted to enjoy this while it lasted.

An intrusive thought entered his mind. He wanted to feel  _ normal _ . He wanted to be the pervert everyone expected him to be and like women and kiss women, date women, enjoy being with a woman. He knew he liked men too but that was just a scary thought he’d push to the back of his mind most days.

He could talk about it, with Stan, and he could kiss Stan but it was ok so long as he still liked girls too. So long as he could appear normal in the eyes of society he could feel more at ease with himself. But it wasn’t working. None of this was going how Richie thought it would and it terrified him.

“Bev,” Richie quickly pulled away when his thoughts became too much. “I can’t. Stop. I can’t do this. I just can’t.”

Bev put a good amount of distance between them immediately. Richie hated how concerned she looked. It didn’t do anything to ease the panic rising in his chest. He realized how hard it was getting to breathe normally, how fucking intimidating everything around him began to feel. Was he having a panic attack?

“Richie, hey,” Bev said in a soft voice, “Breathe. In and out, ok?”

“I can’t--”

“You can, c’mon tough guy, you’ve got this…” Bev tried to sound encouraging but worry seeped into her tone. “Do you know where you are?”

“What? No, I… Fuck.”

“You’re at the school dance. You’re with me, and Eddie and the others are inside. We’re out back by the bleachers.” She said. “If you focus you can hear the music they’re playing inside. Pretty shitty taste, right?”

Richie tried to listen and yeah, he had to agree. Not really good music they were playing. He nodded, finding speaking was too hard right now.

“It’s kinda cold out right?”

“Uh...I...yeah. Yeah, it’s cold.” Richie took a deep breath. “You’re not wearing a jacket. Aren’t you cold?”

“I’m fine.” Beverly assured him. “...Are you ok?”

“...I have no fucking idea.” Richie admitted.

“...We don’t have to talk about it...but…”

“I think I’m gay.” Richie confessed suddenly.

Bev’s eyes widened, stunned.

“I thought I liked girls and guys and it was ok when I first talked about it because I didn’t know for sure. I didn’t fucking know so I thought hey, this is fine. I can still be a normal fucking person but I’m not. I’m fucking not and, goddammit, I don’t know… I didn’t like it, I should have liked it but I didn’t!”

“Richie it’s perfectly ok if you’re gay…” Bev said quietly. “It’s ok if you like guys. There’s nothing abnormal about it.”

“Try telling like, every fucking person in this shit town that.”

“People who would hate you for being gay aren’t worth your time and they aren’t good people. I know Derry sucks. I know your parents suck. But you won’t always be here, you’ll get the hell away from this town one day and you’ll be free to be yourself.”

“I don’t know how the fuck to be myself, Bev! I don’t want to know who I am underneath all the bullshit I do and say!”

Richie’s voice cracked horribly and he found he didn’t care. He needed to let all of this out. Keeping it in made him feel so wrong inside, he just wanted to scream and cry until he didn’t feel anything about his sexuality. He didn’t want to care as much as he did. Bev opened her mouth to respond but the conversation was cut short with the back door to the school opening.

“Ok I’m pretty sure a smoke break doesn’t take for-fucking-ever,” Eddie was saying as he stepped outside. “Also it’s fucking freezing out here!”

Richie and Bev exchanged a look.

“We can continue talking later.” Bev offered.

“No. We aren’t talking about shit.” Richie said coldly, turning away from her and walking past Eddie back into the building.

Eddie looked at Bev with a confused expression.

“What’s going on?”

Bev sighed.

“I don’t know.” She lied. “I’ll try talking to him later. For now let’s just go inside and find the others, ok?”

Eddie nodded and led the way back inside. Bev could tell he had a list of questions he wanted to ask but she was glad that he didn’t pry. It took them a while to find Richie again. By the time they did, the group was all together again. Richie had somehow managed to convince one of the older kids to give him straight up liquor and had gotten absolutely shitfaced in no time. Eddie took it upon himself to babysit Richie so the others could still try to have a good night.

In the morning Richie acted like he didn’t remember much of anything after arriving at the dance. Bev kept her mouth shut, deciding it wasn’t the time to call him on his bullshit. She hoped when he was ready to talk, he would trust her.

 

**Ben**

Richie was high as fuck. Well, most of the losers were high, but Richie seemed especially affected by pot. It had been his idea, naturally, and Bev had helped in convincing the others that it’d be fun. What was the harm in trying it? In the end everyone but Eddie and Stan were convinced. It worked out well enough. Someone had to be responsible while the others were being stupid.

“This is ridiculous and I can’t believe you’re all doing this.” Eddie complained as Bev passed the blunt to Bill.

Bill gave Eddie an apologetic look but still took a hit anyways.

“Fucking ridiculous.” Eddie muttered, shaking his head.

“I can’t believe you’re sharing it.” Stan said, making a disgusted face.

“I have more, I just want it for myself.” Richie said, laughing. “Man you guys really should try this. It’s fucking great.”

Stan rolled his eyes and muttered a small ‘no thanks’ before taking the blunt from Bill and passing it to Ben.

“That’s enough.” He decided.

“S-sorry Stan.” Bill said, holding back laughter. “I-is anyone else h-hungry?”

“I’m starving.” Bev whined. “‘Why didn’t anyone bring food?”

“I brought sandwiches, actually.” Ben said, reaching into his bag. “I didn’t know what everyone likes so...there’s a lot of different kinds.

Bev sat up immediately.

“Oh my god. Ben. I love you.” She smiled sweetly as Ben passed her a sandwich. “I feel like I could eat five of these.”

“I made plenty.” Ben assured her. “Have as much as you want.”

Richie raised an eyebrow and looked at Ben, then at Bev. He broke out in a fit of laughter but no one really paid him any attention. He took the opportunity to get close to Ben before practically dropping himself on his friends lap.

“Ben that’s so  _ cute. _ ” Richie declared. “You’re like...a mama dove.”

“It’s mother hen, but sure.” Stan corrected.

“Ben’s way cuter than a hen. Right, Eds? You agree with me right?”

“I have absolutely no opinion on the matter.” Eddie said.

“Aww...you’re no fun. None of you are ever any fun.”

Ben was blushing a deep red at what Richie was saying. He knew, rationally, Richie was just out of sorts and saying whatever sounded remotely intelligent at this point but still. He wasn’t exactly used to being called cute. Sure his parents used to call him cute but that was when he was way younger. It’s been a while.

“I think we should take it upon ourselves to let this little pumpkin know how gosh darn cute he is.” Richie said in some horrible attempt at a southern accent.

“You are oddly affectionate right now.” Eddie noted.

“Only for my one true darling, Benny.”

As if to prove a point, Richie wrapped his arms around Ben’s neck and kissed him on the cheek.

“We’re star crossed lovers.” He declared.

“I don’t think that’s how that works…” Ben said finally, cheeks burning.

“It totally is cuz I said so.” Richie smirked when he took a look at Ben. “Aww, looks like you’re a tomato, not a pumpkin. Adorable.”

“Awesome now can you do literally anything other than this, now?” Eddie asked, clearly getting irritated with how Richie was acting.

“Sure, sure. If Benny boy here gives me a real kiss.”

“You literally don’t have to do that Ben. Just knock him off of you if he gets too irritating.”

“No, it’s fine.” Ben said, much to Eddie’s surprise.

He was fairly sure the others would have been a bit shocked if they weren’t distracted with each other and getting high. No one seemed as affected as Richie, but they were all a little off their rockers. Including Ben. Eddie figured that was the only possible reason he was going along with Richie’s idiotic ideas.

“Ohoho! Make sweet love to me, Ben!” Richie giggled.

“We can do that after I sweep you off your feet with a kiss.” Ben could barely register the words coming out of his mouth. He’d officially been friends with Richie for far too long.

“Smooth, pumpkin.”

Ben shrugged before leaning in and giving Richie a quick peck on the lips. Richie’s smile that followed was absolutely evil. He fell off of Ben in a fit of laughter, to which Ben himself began to laugh at. He had no idea why the hell any of that had taken place, but it was fun so he didn’t care or think too hard about it.

 

**Eddie**

Richie and Eddie had been dating for a month now. If someone asked Richie what he did to deserve Eddie Kaspbrak he’d be honest and say he had no damn clue. Things had just happened to go in his favor and for some unknown reason, Eddie put up with him and returned his feelings.

He guessed it kind of made sense. They were best friends for a long time and sometimes that grew into something more with boys and girls so it wasn’t a ridiculous concept that it could happen with two boys. Looking back on it there may have been a few hints that Eddie liked him. He wondered if his own behavior was obvious at times, but it wasn’t likely he’d ask.

In truth, Richie was still a bit at war with himself when it came to his sexuality. He wasn’t sure at all what label applied to him. He knew he liked guys, that was about all he was absolutely sure of at this point and that fact alone was enough to scare him sometimes. He acted like it didn’t bother him well enough, and he hoped his friends were right when they told him one day things won’t be this way. He’d be able to love himself. The future was a bit too terrifying for Richie at times so he decided to smile and nod when they talked about it.

Even with those troubles, Richie was one hundred percent sure that dating Eddie was the right decision. He could hate himself at times, but when he was with Eddie things felt right. Knowing Eddie felt the same way made things significantly easier.

Sadly things were never easy for long when it came to the losers. It was neither of their fault when things went sour. Even though they were both sixteen and in high school now, bullies still occasionally targeted the losers. Eddie especially seemed to be targeted and it had only gotten worse since he’d been dating Richie. The rumors and accusations he was gay were easy to brush off before but now that it was confirmed...people didn’t stand up for him as much.

It was a Wednesday of all days when things escalated a bit too far from regular bullying. With Henry Bowers gone, insults and slurs had been easy to deal with. But with one horrible bully gone it was only a matter of time before someone else took his place. It ended up being a guy who named Butch. Butch and his gang cornered Eddie after school, making sure they were out of sight from most students.

Eddie figured he might as well not go down without a fight. Butch hit him first, knocking him back but Eddie tried to retaliate. He tried to throw a punch but Butch grabbed his arm and twisted it, making Eddie cry out in pain.

“Your little boytoy aint here to help you know, huh Kaspbrak?” Butch taunted.

Eddie glared at him.

“Aw aint that cute...he’s mad.” One of Butch’s groupies said in a mocking tone. 

“Fuck you!” Eddie shouted at them, trying to stand his ground.

Butch laughed and smacked him across the face, enjoying the way Eddie fell to the ground from the force of the hit. He kicked him while he was down, making Eddie curl up to try to shield himself from any further hits. Eddie had nearly accepted he was going to be beaten bloody here when a surprised yelp caught his attention.

He looked up just barely to see Richie punching the hell out of one of Butch’s guys. The rest were stunned for a moment but jumped into action, pulling Richie off of their friend and trying to hold him back so they could get payback.

It didn’t work as well as they’d hoped. Richie kicked Butch in the face and elbowed the one holding him back. Butch’s nose had to be broken. Blood was gushing everywhere.

“You fucked up now, Tozier!” Butch shouted.

“Come at me, bitch!”

Eddie forced himself up and watched as Richie and Butch went at each other. Richie wasn’t likely to beat Butch, but Eddie hoped that things would somehow go in his boyfriend’s favor. He crossed his fingers, hoped Richie would be ok, and ran to get the other losers. There was no way the two of them could hold off Butch, but maybe with the rest of the losers they could win. They stood up against Bowers and his gang, surely they could do the same here.

He found Bill, Ben, Stan, and Mike at the front of the school. The second they laid eyes on him, they seemed worried. Eddie figured he probably didn’t look too great after being hit by Butch. He reached them quickly and practically began tugging Bill towards where he’d left Richie. He was horribly out of breath but that didn’t matter.

“Richie--Butch--help--now!” Eddie stammered.

“Whoa, whoa, Eddie, what’s going on?” Mike asked, looking alarmed.

“Richie’s fighting Butch, we gotta help him!”

The group didn’t argue after that. They rushed to where Eddie had left Richie and found they showed up just in time. Butch had gotten Richie down and he was pummeling him, shouting slurs at him all the while. Mike wasted no time tackling Butch, getting him off of Richie. The other two from Butch’s gang turned to see the losers ready to fight if need be.

“The fuck are you idiots gonna do?” One asked.

“You wanna stick around and find out?” Eddie replied, feeling more confident this time around. “Hmm?”

“Fuck this.” Butch spat, shoving Mike. “Let’s go.”

The losers waited until Butch was out of sight before any of them moved. Eddie sighed in relief and immediately ran to Richie’s side. Richie seemed to get off easy-- Butch could have easily broken something but Richie had put up a hell of a fight so he probably never gave Butch the opportunity to really hurt him.

“Are you ok?” Eddie asked.

“I’m fine.” Richie said quickly. “What about you, Eds?”

“I’m ok. Hurts a little, but I’ll be ok.”

Richie smiled just a bit. Mike helped him up and the group made their way to Bill’s house. The whole way there Richie swore up and down he was gonna kill Butch next time he saw him. “No one touches my man,” He had said, winking at Eddie and making him blush. Once at Bill’s, Richie and Eddie sat on the couch while the others got some bandages for the pair.

Eddie leaned against Richie, careful not to put too much of his weight against him.

“...Thanks.” He said after a moment. “I have no idea how you knew where I was but...thanks for helping me”

“I’m kind of your boyfriend, it’d be really shitty if I didn’t help you.” Richie said. “I didn’t know...I was going to get a quick smoke in and saw what they were doing. Fuck them for hurting you.”

“They hurt you too.”

“I’ll live. ‘Sides I’m pretty sure I broke his nose so he won’t fuck with me anytime soon.”

“I hope so…” Eddie hesitated for a moment before closing his eyes and saying, “I love you.”

“...Wait, what?”

“I love you, Richie.”

Richie tensed up, making Eddie sit up straight and put some distance between them. He fake coughed, trying to make the situation less awkward that it was. He honestly wasn’t expecting Richie to say it in return...but he did hope that he hadn’t messed anything up by saying it so suddenly.

“Eds…” Richie started slowly. “You know how I feel about you.”

“I know. You don’t have to say it, I just… I don’t know, I wanted to.”

“...You didn’t even take me out to dinner first.” Richie said in a lighter tone. “Damn Eddie, we haven’t even kissed yet and I’ve wooed you that hard? Awesome.”

“Do  _ not _ make me regret saying it.”

“Aww you’re no fun…” Richie paused before continuing. “I’m...actually sorry. Like, I mean it. I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

“You deserve someone better.”

“Richie, what the fuck?”

“No, listen. Look, I’m not sure how I feel about myself yet. I just know you make me happy and I guess that’s what fucking matters but, shit man, you deserve someone who knows what they’re doing and what they want. Not...me.”

“...You really can’t say this kind of stuff to me right after saving me from Butch and those assholes.” Eddie said, “You’re an idiot.”

Richie looked at him, vaguely offended.

“You’re a damn idiot if you think any of that matters to me. I don’t care what you think I  _ deserve _ , I know what I  _ want  _ and I want to be with you.”

To prove his point, Eddie closed the distance between them and kissed Richie. It wasn’t anything extremely intense or passionate, but it got the message across. When Eddie pulled back, Richie was smirking.

“Damn Eds.”

“Don’t call me Eds.” Eddie said, blushing.

“Eddie spaghetti,” Richie said, teasing, “You’re full of surprises today. Maybe we need to get the shit beaten out of us more often.”

“Maybe don’t.” Stan’s voice snapped them out of their little bubble and made the two put a considerable distance between each other. “And maybe stop making out on Bill’s couch.”

“Sorry…” Eddie mumbled.

“I’m not.” Richie said, smiling.

 

**Mike**

The losers were celebrating Christmas together and of course Richie had gotten the bright idea that they had to play some party games. Never Have I Ever, Truth or Dare, and of course Spin the Bottle. It had taken some convincing on Stan’s end, but eventually he agreed to it under the circumstances that he didn’t _ have _ to kiss on the lips if he didn’t want to.

The first round Richie ended up having to kiss Eddie, which he took advantage of fully. He made out with Eddie until Stan made a gagging noise to get them to stop. Eddie landed on Stan, and kissed him on the cheek. Stan landed on Ben and he gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Ben landed on Richie, who was more than thrilled to give him a “real kiss” after Stan’s small peck on the cheek. Bill got Stan and the two exchanged a kiss that the others could only describe as ‘cute.’ Mike landed on Bill and the two shared a brief kiss before moving onto the second round.

Richie spun the bottle and smirked when it landed on Stan. He was pretty sure he could convince Stan to kiss him on the lips if he played his cards right. They’d done it before after all, even if the others probably weren’t aware of that. He batted his eyes innocently and leaned over closer to Stan.

“Staaaan.”

“Richie.”

“Stanley would you do me the honor of giving me one little kiss? It’d make my day.”

“And making out with your boyfriend wouldn’t?” Stan asked dryly.

“What can I say? You’re a total boyfriend thief. Sorry Eds, I’m being dragged in by Stan’s adorable face.”

“Tragic.” Was all Eddie said.

Stan rolled his eyes and gave Richie a kiss on the lips. Richie broke out into a fit of giggles as he sat back, feeling accomplished. Stan didn’t pay him any attention as he spun the bottle next and raised an eyebrow when it landed on Eddie. He could have easily gotten out of this by kissing Eddie on the cheek...but Richie brought out the worst in all of them.

“Come here,” Stan muttered, and pulled Eddie in closer when he complied.

He kissed Eddie on the lips for five whole seconds before pulling away and sitting there like nothing had happened. He had trouble keeping a straight face, just barely hiding the smirk he wanted to throw in Richie’s direction. Eddie fumbled and hid his face behind his hands, his cheeks having turned a bright pink after the kiss.

“Stan!” Eddie complained.

“Hmm?” Stan asked nonchalantly. “Oh, it’s Ben’s turn, right?”

Ben and Bill went next, and eventually it was Mike’s turn again. He spun the bottle and resisted the urge to groan when it landed on Richie. Richie gave him a look and leaned into his space.

“Kiss me big boy,” He said in a southern accent.

“Keep talking like that and I’ll pass.” Mike said.

“No one here is ever any fun.” Richie complained. “I’m just trying to spice it up, like making out with you guys over and over is only so much fun. Someone’s gotta have a little spice to it. Where’s the passion? The love? The element of surprise---”

Mike shut him up with a deep kiss that definitely had tongue involved. Richie let out a small noise of surprise before he decided to just roll with it. He let Mike pull him closer till Richie was practically on his lap and he ran his fingers through Richie’s hair and tugged.

Richie whimpered and Mike finally pulled away, looking far too pleased with himself.

“So was that surprising enough for you?” Mike asked.

“Uh...wh...yeah.” Richie blinked, quiet for a moment.

“Holy shit he’s speechless.” Stan said, laughing.

“I think…” Richie started, “I think we can just replace ‘beep beep Richie’ with that. Mike is officially allowed to shut me up whenever. I consent.”

“D-damn, Mike.” Bill said, impressed.

Whatever reservations the losers had after that were thrown out the window. Most of them either had fun with messing around and kissing each other, or went all out like Mike had with Richie. They lasted a few more rounds before they decided to watch some movies instead, but Stan didn’t stop teasing Richie about his reaction to Mike kissing him the rest of the night.


End file.
